TheZombieGame.com Forums

I'm new at painting. Never painted before until now because I love the look of everyone else's painted minis. Got some paints from a Hobby Lobby with some different size brushes.
Well, I'm starting to paint the Zombies first for the practice then work my way to the Heroes. I find that painting these minis are taking me an absurdly long time. Somewhere around a couple hours a mini.
I have read numerous techniques online and read that it relies a lot on wash. But in order to do that, I have to thin the paint considerably to where it takes a lot of time putting on a coat, letting it dry, then repeat until it's dark enough.
Is there an easier way of doing this? Maybe i'm doing it wrong? I'm hesitant to only lightly thin the paint because of having to strip them if I get it wrong.
The first zombie come out really nice in the end but is there any advice to help speed things up a bit? They don't have to be perfect but not look like, well.. a first time painter's job haha.

Well...to be honest...paiting minis does take alot of time. To spend hours on one figure doesn't strike me as odd
What brand and type of paint do you use?

Washes a generaly aplied after you have put on your base colors.

As for speeding things up...when I work on mass production painting I try to combine my colors so I van paint many figs at once. For instance i did all the flesh on my heroes in one go. Same for the zeds.

Hope this helps...and if not...I'm sure our inhouse paintingguru will show up pretty soon and help you with some excellent advice. I think he can smell those painters in trouble!

Yeah, it takes me about that long as well.

Emp's idea is solid, especially when you're trying to get a bunch painted.

Some painters use super thin paint (almost like tinted water) and build up the layers. This usually gives much more control in the long run and allows for very smooth coverage, but it takes forever.

Also, some will speed up the drying process with either a hair dryer, or like I do, a bright desklamp.

(02-08-2012 08:42 PM)Emp Wrote: [ -> ]Washes a generaly aplied after you have put on your base colors.

Thanks for the advice! I think this may be what I am getting wrong. I am laying the base color in washes. Doing that over the white primer is what was probably causing me to spend so much time on it.
How thin, on average, should a paint be for the base color?

That depends on what you try to paint. When it has alot of detail (a face) try thinning down to rhe sustance of lets say milk. Stuff like cloaks, armor, pants, ... Can be painted with thicker.
Try searching the paintguide here, if I'm not mistaken there is some advice on just how thin the paint can be.

I made the mistake of not thinning down enough at first

for the lazy man's washes/shading... gogo dipping!

Army Painter Quickshade

Master Samurai's painting guides are in his A Brush with Death forum. Read them. Know them. Live them. I have found these to be the most useful resources on this site. As a new painter myself, I started with Beginner's Guide to Painting: Part 1

Please post pics of your finished dudes so we can all ogle them.

I believe that if you use paints that are water based you should add one drop of water to the amount of your paint. I usually use a tiny paint pallet and add a single drop to the mixture. I use this often for areas that are highly detailed. Of course this might mean 2 or three layers but the end result is more crisp and defined rather than muddled and clogged. A quick step guide would be
1. Remove mold lines and sand down any imperfections.
2. wash your miniature.
3. Apply a primer to your miniature (usually a black or white paint...i prefer grey)
4. Add your foundation/main colors
5. Add a wash to dark the crevices, this wash creates shadows
6. add finish your model with a varnish.

(02-09-2012 05:37 AM)phantomninja Wrote: [ -> ]I believe that if you use paints that are water based you should add one drop of water to the amount of your paint. I usually use a tiny paint pallet and add a single drop to the mixture. I use this often for areas that are highly detailed. Of course this might mean 2 or three layers but the end result is more crisp and defined rather than muddled and clogged. A quick step guide would be
1. Remove mold lines and sand down any imperfections.
2. wash your miniature.
3. Apply a primer to your miniature (usually a black or white paint...i prefer grey)
4. Add your foundation/main colors
5. Add a wash to dark the crevices, this wash creates shadows
6. add finish your model with a varnish.

I'd add:
5.5 Drybrush for an added level of detail

Or 5.5.5 Highlight for the highest level of detail